The SUV didn't head toward the familiar, sun-drenched hills of Lili's childhood village. Instead, it veered off the main highway, climbing higher into a jagged, desolate ridge where the trees were skeletal and the wind howled with a mournful, hollow sound.
Aaryan's house wasn't a home; it was a fortress of grey stone and rusted iron gates that groaned as they swung shut behind them.
Lili sat in the passenger seat, her ivory lace dress crumpled, her hands cold as ice. The moment the engine died, the silence of the mountain ridge pressed in on her.
"Where are they, Aaryan?" Lili asked, her voice trembling but demanding. "You said they were here. You said my parents were waiting. Take me to them. Now."
Aaryan didn't look at her. He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. "In time, Lili. They are... safe. But first, you need to remember where you belong. You need to wash the scent of that city man off your skin."
He got out and pulled her door open, his grip on her arm firm and unyielding. He didn't lead her toward a warm living room or a kitchen filled with the smell of home. He led her up a narrow, winding staircase to a room at the very top of the stone tower.
The room was cold. A single window looked out over the dark ravine, and the furniture was heavy, dark oak that felt like it had been carved from the mountain itself. Aaryan pushed her inside and stood in the doorway, his silhouette blocking the light from the hall.
"Aaryan, please," Lili pleaded, her eyes searching the shadows for any sign of her mother or father. "Let me see them. Just for a minute. I need to know they're okay."
"They are as okay as you make them, Lili," Aaryan said, his voice a low, jagged warning. "Stay here. Rest. Think about the secret I told you.
Think about what happens to the Vance name—and to Leo—if that truth ever leaves this house. I'll bring you food. But do not try the door."
He stepped back and the heavy oak door clicked shut. The sound of the bolt sliding into place echoed through the room like a gunshot.
Lili sank onto the edge of the bed, the lace of her wedding dress catching on the rough wood. She was stuck. The walls of the room felt like they were closing in, the silence vibrating with the weight of the secret she was carrying.
Leo, she thought, her heart aching so fiercely she had to clutch her chest. Leo, I'm sorry. I had to go. I had to protect you. If he tells the world... if he follows through on that threat... everything we fought for will burn.
She looked at the window, but the drop was too steep. She was a prisoner in a dress meant for a queen, waiting for a man she no longer knew.
Hours passed. The moon rose over the ridge, casting a silver, ghostly light across the floor. The bolt slid back, and Aaryan entered, carrying a tray of food that remained untouched on the table. He didn't leave this time. He pulled a chair across the floor, the screech of wood against stone making Lili flinch.
He sat down, leaning forward, his eyes fixed on her with a desperate, manic intensity.
"You look beautiful in white, Lili," Aaryan began, his voice soft, trying to mimic the warmth of a suitor. "It's how I always pictured you. Back in the village, when I used to watch you walk to the library, I told my father, 'That's the one. That's the girl who will carry my name.'"
Lili didn't look at him. She stared at the wall. "I am not that girl anymore, Aaryan. I haven't been for a long time."
"You are exactly that girl," Aaryan countered, his voice rising.
"The city just put a layer of glass over you. I can break it. We can go back. My father has already prepared the papers. We can marry tomorrow morning. The village elders will witness it. It will be as if the last two years never happened."
"You can't erase two years with a signature!" Lili shouted, finally turning to face him. "I love him, Aaryan.
I love Leo Vance. Do you think a ceremony in a dusty hall will change that? Do you think I'll ever look at you the way I look at him?"
Aaryan flinched as if she had struck him. He stood up, pacing the small room like a caged animal. "Love is a luxury for people who don't have secrets, Lili! You saw what happened to Arthur.
You saw what the press did to the Vances. Do you want to be the reason Leo loses it all again? Because I will do it.
I will call the journalists tonight if you don't agree."
Lili felt the walls pressing in again. She saw the trap he had set—a choice between her heart and Leo's life. She needed time. She needed a way to reach Leo, a way to warn him, a way to find her parents.
"Aaryan," she said, her voice dropping to a low, calculated whisper. "Look at me."
He stopped pacing and looked at her, hope flickering in his dark eyes.
"You want me to be your wife?" Lili asked. "You want me to be the girl from the village again? Then you have to give me what that girl had. Respect.
Space."
"What are you saying?" Aaryan asked, stepping closer.
"I'm saying this is too fast," Lili lied, the words tasting like poison on her tongue.
"I was an hour away from marrying another man.
My mind is a chaos of memories and fear. If you force me into a ceremony tomorrow, you will be marrying a corpse. Is that what you want? A wife who hates the sound of your voice?"
Aaryan hesitated. He reached out as if to touch her hair, but she pulled back just enough to maintain the distance.
"Give me time, Aaryan," Lili pleaded. "Give me space.
Let me stay in this room. Let me process the secret you told me. Let me find a way to make peace with the fact that I'm here. If you truly love me as much as you say, you won't rush this. You'll let me come to you on my own terms."
Aaryan stared at her for a long time, the silence stretching until it was unbearable.
"How much time?" he asked.
"As much as I need," Lili replied. "A few days. A week. Just... don't force me. Let me see my parents, and let me be alone with my thoughts. If you do that, I won't fight the door."
Aaryan looked at the ivory lace of her dress, then back at her pale, determined face. He believed he had won.
He believed that if he gave her a few days, the "city" would fade, and the "village girl" would return.
"Fine," Aaryan said, walking back to the door. "One week, Lili. You stay in this room. I'll bring you what you need. But the gates stay locked. And if I see a single sign that you're trying to contact him... the secret goes public.
Do you understand?"
Lili nodded slowly. "I understand."
The door slammed shut, and the bolt slid home.
Lili collapsed onto the bed, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She had a week. Seven days to find a way out of the tower. Seven days to save Leo.
She looked at the dark ravine outside the window and whispered his name into the cold night air, hoping the wind would carry it back to the lodge.